Neighborhood Joint: Charlie’s Calypso City

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Rawlston Charles (right, standing), opened Charlie’s Calypso City in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, in 1972 as a place to sell music. But in recent years it has become as much a social hub as a store, especially on Friday nights, when regulars gather for food, drink and hearty conversation.

Victor J. Blue for The New York Times

Neighborhood Joint: Charlie’s Calypso City

As other record stores have headed toward obsolescence, Rawlston Charles, who opened Charlie’s Calypso City in 1972, has managed to reinvent the store for each era and turn it into a hub for Brooklyn’s Caribbean community.